


Day 15: Christmas Lights

by Hapkido9061



Series: 25 Cliché Days of Christmas [15]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Chenmin, Christmas, Coffee Shop Owner Jongdae, Jongdae is a Sweetheart, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, More so than the others at least, XiuChen - Freeform, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 21:32:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17009598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hapkido9061/pseuds/Hapkido9061
Summary: “You wanna tell me the reason you’re here?”“To get coffee."“Dork. I meant why are you at a coffee shop Christmas day?”Or...Where Minseok has a fight with his girlfriend and spends Christmas alone in the coffee shop until the barista strikes up a conversation. And maybe, Minseok has just found himself a new friend





	Day 15: Christmas Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Not so much of an obvious relationship, but I've always thought Xiumin and Chen to be the more subtle type...

“You want another cup?” the barista asked, pointing to the now empty mug in front of Minseok. Minseok peered at his nametag and barely made out the name ‘Jongdae’. That handwriting on the nametag was truly horrendous. He smiled and nodded at the offer.

As the barista (Jongdae, Minseok tried to remember) went back to make another latte, Minseok tore at the edges of a napkin. He piled the pieces in a mini snow mountain on the table in front of him. It was too warm of a winter for there even to be a speck of snow seen outside. That only helped to fuel the sour mood Minseok was finding himself in.

His attention was drawn back to the coffee shop’s interior when a warm cup of coffee was placed on the table in front of him. A little bit of the brown liquid sloshed over the edge and stained the porcelain.

“Thanks,” he croaked out. If he said anything else, the waterworks might turn on and everything he’s been holding back come pouring out. And he really didn’t want to have the poor barista to deal with that. But he shocked to find a chocolate taste hitting his tongue when he took a sip rather than the bitter taste of coffee.

He peered up to the barista with a cocked eyebrow. Jongdae gave an unconcerned shrug. He pulled off his stained apron and hung it over the edge of the chair opposite Minseok. After making sure it wasn’t going to fall, he plopped down and stretched his legs to the side. Minseok stared at his playful eyes before turning back to his hot chocolate. It tasted better than we was expecting.

“You wanna tell me the reason you’re here?”

“To get coffee,” Minseok deadpanned. Jongdae barked a laugh at his answer. It wasn’t as sarcastic as Minseok would’ve thought.

“Dork. I meant why are you at a coffee shop Christmas day?”

“Well… who wouldn’t want to be here? I mean, you’re working and it’s Christmas,” Minseok pointed out with a slightly offended tone.

Jongdae shrugged. “I own the shop, I can open it whenever ‘cause I live upstairs. It gives me something to do. And you just seem like the type to spend holidays with a girlfriend, family, people like that.”

“Yeah, well, I am. Just tell that to my girlfriend…” Minseok mumbled. His heart ached as he remembered the fight that they had- just one of many- before Jisoo was kicking him out of the house. It wasn’t uncommon and honestly, Minseok was getting sick of it.

“Lover’s disagreement?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Jongdae held up a finger for Minseok to wait as he got up. He went behind the counter and made himself a cup of hot chocolate as well. Once the drink was done, Jongdae came back over and sat down with his legs up on a nearby chair. The sight almost made Minseok laugh. “Care to explain? I’ve been told I’m pretty good at listening.”

There was something about this man that Minseok had begun to talk to only minutes ago that had him recounting his story. Maybe because it was Christmas, maybe because the hot chocolate was so tasty, but Minseok felt that Jongdae actually listened, too. And that was something he hadn’t had in a long time.

Minseok went on to explain how he and Jisoo had been dating since high school and even all through college. At times, he had wanted to propose but something about her always held him back from doing so. She never was interested in having anything more. No family, no kids, nothing. And that was fine with Minseok, but that’s what _he_ wanted. While he never was going to push her, Minseok was sure that was going to play a factor in their breaking up someday.

And that someday can faster than either of them thought.

Jisoo had been staying with ‘friends’ more and more often. Except, Jisoo seemed to forget that Minseok was friends with those same people and they told him she certainly wasn’t with them. It wasn’t a hard thing to figure out. Her cheating brought on more fights, resulting in Minseok leaving to clear his head.

Today just so happened to be one of her worst tantrums yet, ending with Minseok sitting across from Jongdae at some hole-in-the-wall coffee shop and pouring his heart out onto the table. When his story was finished, Minseok sat back in silence. Jongdae didn’t comment on the frustrated tears welling up in his eyes.

Jongdae lightly tapped a finger against the rim of his cup. “She sounds… interesting.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Minseok snorted as he gulped down the last bit of hot chocolate.

“Why do you stay with her?”

“I told you, we’ve been together since-”

“-High school, I know.” Jongdae waved a hand. “But _why_? You guys obviously aren’t happy together, and from what you’ve said, there’s not a lot of love between the two of you. I don’t care if I’ve known someone since diapers: you piss me off and are dragging me down, I cut you out.”

Minseok stared down at the table. The barista wasn’t wrong. “We’ve been together for so long, I don’t know what to do without her. I’m- I’m gonna break it off soon, I think. I want to.”

At this, Jongdae nodded in agreement. He stared outside the window to where the streets had gone dark with the early night. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I have a Christmas party with some friends to get to. And I’m only telling you this to invite you to come along, of course.”

“You serious?” Minseok asked.

Jongdae nodded nonchalantly and stood from his chair. Over the course of their conversation, not a single other soul even walked into the coffee shop. Jongdae could close up and not miss much business if anyone even did show up. Minseok looked to Jongdae again with a questioning gaze, as if asking if it was actually fine that he came. Jongdae waved a hand for him to get up as well and follow him to the counter.

Jongdae cleaned the machines with a speed only obtained by a professional. Even Minseok was impressed. As he was wiping down the front of the espresso machine (Minseok felt a little guilty that everything was dirty because of him), Jongdae kept talking.

“It’s just some friends of mine. We have a little thing every year and at least one of us brings a new friend along. I think this year there’ll be… four others? Not many could make it so the more the merrier!” he chirped. He moved on to the cash register to remove the money and lock it up. “Wait… weird question but can you speak Chinese?”

“Um… I studied abroad for four years in Beijing,” Minseok said. “Conversations, yes. Reading, not so much.”

“Awesome! I think who’s coming are all Chinese guys, they’re super nice but probably won’t speak much in Korean tonight. If that’s fine with you,” Jongdae added with a second thought.

Minseok didn’t respond at first. Jongdae was about to start back pedaling with his words when the older finally did respond. “Thank you. So much, honestly. You’re inviting me to a Christmas thing, meeting your friends, and I’ve only known you for a few hours. As pissed as I am at Jisoo, this actually is a pretty decent Christmas so far. So yeah, thanks.”

Jongdae smiled holding out his hand to led Minseok into the chilly street. Minseok couldn’t help but notice just how warm his hand was or how soft his fingers.

“Anytime, Minnie. Just ask.”


End file.
